The guy looking at the sailboat picture in MALLRATS is Willam Black played by Ethan Suplee.
Willam Black aka "Snowball" was played by Scott Mosier in CLERKS as well as a cameo in "Strike Back".
Why did they go with the drastic cast change? You have a skinny guy with a big beard in CLERKS and an over-weight dude in MALLRATS?
Mallrats actually takes place the day BEFORE Clerks, so wrap your head around that.
I have no respect for people with no shopping agenda. - Shannon Hamilton
Yup, Wiliam went on one hell of a diet to lose that much weight overnight!
shareFrom John Kenneth Muir's "An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith"
Suplee was auditioning for the role of Willam Black, the "snowballer" of Clerks fame (played by Mosier), but the character underwent a radical rethink for Mallrats, becoming angrier and far less mellow. Smith has thus postulated the "Willam of Two Worlds Theory" to explain the differences. Fans of Star Trek's mirror universe, or Superman's nemesis and opposite, Bizarro, will grasp the reference: Willam of Clerks and Willam of Mallrats inhabit alternate realities.
Or, a much more simple (and far less reality-shattering) explanation: there are two guys in the tri-town area named Willam Black: a slim, mellow one and a fat, pissed one.
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I like Wackd_w_apostrophe's answer.
shareOr, a much more simple (and far less reality-shattering) explanation: there are two guys in the tri-town area named Willam Black: a slim, mellow one and a fat, pissed one.
I'm sure the studio not having faith in a bunch of "nobodies" in their film had something to do with it. According to Smith, the studio originally wanted Seth Green or Breckin Meyer for the role of Jay and he had to fight to keep Mewes in the film. Go figure.
sharethat always bugged me. particularly since Scott Mosier was in Mallrats as well, so it wasn't a question of availability. If Suplee played it funnier, fine, but rename the character. the only people who would actually get the "Willem" reference would be ones thrown off by the recasting, so what was the point of name him that?
I think if Kevin Smith could go back he would have retained the solid structure of his View Askewniverse, which is pretty tight. he even got Jason Lee to play two different characters in the same movie, which I admit I got a kick out of seeing, Banky and Brodie being the two best characters in said universe.
No way Bells is bigger than Waimea, bro.
If you get the Criterion Collection of Chasing Amy, the booklet that accompanies the DVD has a guide to the characters of "The New Jersey Trilogy" (as it was billed at the time). This booklet guide does in fact state that the two William (yes, William) Blacks are two separate, identically named individuals.
I don't have issues, I have subscriptions.